Ocean-going robots swim with sharks off Catalina

July 22, 2013

Updated March 19, 2015 4:34 a.m.

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Connor White, left, and Yukun Lin monitor a hydrophone used to pinpoint and track the location of Leopard sharks in the water near the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A leopard shark is seen in its exhibit in this undated photo provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. FILE: AP

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Harvey Mudd College student Yukun Lin launches an autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, for deployment in the water at the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday. The AUV is being used to monitor and record leopard shark activity in the area. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Hannah Kastein, an engineering student at Harvey Mudd College, pulls an AUV out of the water near the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday. Kastein is part of a team from Harvey Mudd, led by associate professor Chris Clark used hydrophones attached to the underwater robot to pinpoint and track leopard sharks in the area. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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An autonomous underwater vehicle sits on the dock at the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday. A team from Harvey Mudd College led by associate professor Chris Clark is using hydrophones attached to the underwater robot to pinpoint and track leopard sharks. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Harvey Mudd College associate professor Chris Clark prepares an AUV for deployment. The AUV is being used to monitor and record leopard sharks off Santa Catalina Island. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Real-time hydrophone data from an autonomous underwater vehicle is displayed on a laptop onshore via a wireless connection at the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Connor White, left, and Yukun Lin monitor a hydrophone used to pinpoint and track the location of Leopard sharks in the water near the Wrigley Institute on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday.STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Imagine a great white shark swimming rapidly through the deep, trailed by missile-like robots that track and record its every move.

The day such a scene becomes reality might not be too far off. Researchers spent last week on Santa Catalina Island with two such robots, which were armed with sensors and launched so they could, indeed, follow sharks through near-shore waters.

But as with many such ground-breaking projects, you have to start small. The targets in this case were leopard sharks, spotted creatures smaller and less intimidating than their great-white cousins.

“We need bigger robots” to go after great whites, said Chris Clark, an associate Engineering professor at Harvey Mudd College who conducted the shark-tracking measurements with a team of students. “Our robots can't go fast enough.”

With the leopard sharks, however, the robots did just fine.

“We picked leopard sharks specifically because they are easier to track,” he said. “They're not going to travel as far; they're slower during the day; they're ideal test subjects to start with.”

It's the third year in a row Clark has come to the West Coast to test his shark-tracking robots, the past two at Catalina. He conducts the work with Christopher Lowe at Cal State Long Beach, and the Design of the robots, known as autonomous underwater vehicles, becomes more refined as he goes.

The robots are equipped with hydrophones so they can listen for pings from tracking tags attached to the sharks in advance.

The two hydrophones on each robot are spaced far enough apart that they can get a bearing on the shark by the difference in arrival times of the pings; the tandem robots communicate with each other, sharpening their estimates and honing in on the sharks, but keeping a discreet distance.

They end up circling the sharks, the circles about 60 feet wide.

“They're not right on top of the shark,” Clark said. “If the shark moves two meters, it moves two meters.”

That keeps the sharks from altering their behavior to react to the robots.

Leopard sharks “don't get spooked as easily,” he said.

The robots also are equipped with cameras, and measure temperature, salinity and other factors to keep track of the kind of habitat the sharks prefer.

Innovations this year included improved search capabilities, as well as pressure sensors, allowing the robots to measure the depth of water the sharks are found in.

The research might eventually help conserve populations of sharks, as well as many other fish species, by providing more data on their habitat and feeding requirements, as well as where they spend their time.

“This can be used to track any type of fish for fish management, and management of habitat,” he said.

When it comes time to move up to great whites, they'll likely start with juveniles, which tend to travel more slowly than adults.

Then, perhaps, it will be time to send the robots in pursuit of Jaws.

“Once we get the Technology up and running, we'll go after bigger species of shark that travel farther,” Clark said.

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